Thursday, October 31, 2013

Hero Mode again?

In Aonumas interview with Gameswelt it sounded like A Link Between Worlds would get an actual 2nd Quest instead of just Hero Mode... however, it seems like he only meant that it won't be an option like in The Wind Waker HD, because Nintendo just confirmed Hero Mode as the 2nd playthrough in their latest press release:

For those who can’t put down this latest title in The Legend of Zelda series, once a player has completed the main game, a Hero Mode will be unlocked, in which Link takes greater damage from enemies when hit. Intrepid explorers may even find a small hidden extra waiting to be found somewhere in Lorule during a second play through…

I hope this "small hidden extra" is a new dungeon... :D

I'm a little bit disappointed that Nintendo contents theirselves with the simple "double damage" thing. The difficulty of a Zelda game is more than just damage values. It includes enemies, puzzles, secrets... Which is why the original 2nd Quest in The Legend of Zelda and Ocarina of Time's Master Quest are the only truly satisfying higher difficulty levels.

You need stronger enemies to appear. Imagine Eastern Palace plastered with Eyegores. You need more complicated puzzles. Like the ones in Master Quest. And things need to be more hidden. Like the dungeons and many caves in TLoZ's 2nd Quest. With a topdown Zelda game changing the dungeons should be a lot easier to do than in a 3rd person Zelda. So, I was actually hoping that they would consider doing this in A Link Between Worlds.

Of course having Hero Mode is still better than nothing. It's just that it would probably have been better to make this available from the start like in The Wind Waker HD. But I'm eager to see what this "small hidden extra" will be.